Compare and contrast the ways in which the horrors of war are presented in Regeneration by Pat Barker and Journeys end

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Introduction

Compare and contrast the ways in which the horrors of war are presented in Regeneration by Pat Barker and Journeys End by R.C Sheriff. Both Regeneration and Journeys End, explore the horrors of war in similar ways and also in different ways. They both challenge assumptions about the war and the horrors the soldiers have to face. These horrors involve horrors of trench life, death of soldiers and the suffering the soldiers endured both physically and mentally. These horrors are conveyed by the use of characters that evoke flashbacks and also the mental state of the characters. Regeneration is told through Rivers who is the protagonist of the novel. Rivers is the psychiatrist at Craiglockhart which is a war hospital. Barker uses Rivers to enable the reader to gain a deeper insight into the horrors of his patients and the horrors of war. However in Journeys End this insight is achieved through an examination of men, in a trench, at the front line. The different genres of literature, the time the texts were written and the diverse styles used by each writer, together, provides a contrast, which helps to show many presentations of the horrors and effects of the first world war. ...read more.

Middle

This can be compared to Journeys End where Sherriff also highlights this concept of the constant worry and guilt soldiers often felt towards soldiers who have died. This is mainly done through the relationship between Stanhope and Osbourne. Both characters shared a close friendship. Stanhope says, "I love that fellow. I'd go to hell with him". This emphasises the tragedy when Osbourne dies towards the end of the play, and Sherriff suggests the weakness and insecurity Stanhope suffers after Osbourne's death when he "Stands towards the wall, his shoulders heaving as he fights for breath" Sheriff uses words such as "heaving" and "fight" to emphasis Stanhope's suffering. Both Journeys End and Regeneration use young innocent characters to emphasize the effect of the horrors of war on such characters and how it terminates lives abruptly and destroys youth. An example of this is in Journeys End, where Sheriff uses Raleigh as embodiment of youth and innocence but also to represent all the young men who fought and died in the trenches. Sheriff uses Raleigh to show the audience the reality of the horrors of war, and the horror of the trenches. Raleigh is new to the war and is unaware of the reality of the trench life and that of war. ...read more.

Conclusion

Yealland says to Rivers, "The patient has to know when he enters the electrical room that there's no way out except by full recovery" He also says, "The last thing these patients need is a sympathetic audience" This highlights the role senior people play of the suffering and horrors the soldiers of war have to endure and how as a society we do not acknowledge this. The changes forced upon Rivers i.e. his Regeneration is a results of the horrors of war. I believe both texts are successful in portraying the many different horrors of war the soldiers have to go through. Barker shows various patients with their own struggles including constant hallucinations and nightmares, the loss of youth which was often experienced and inability to overcome explicit images that they witnessed. Barker shows a realistic and horrific view of war and its effect on men both physically and psychologically. Sheriff addresses the physiological effects of war on men and how often these men tried to hide away from the horrors of it. Through both texts we can see similar and contrasting effects of war. They present to us the horrors and atrocities of war that scar men physiologically but also destroy them physically. ?? ?? ?? ?? 1 ...read more.

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3 star(s)

The essay writer displays sensitivity to the language used by these two writers but little understanding of the differences between a novel and a script intended for performance. S/he probably has little experience of the theatre, and certainly has a limited understanding of what can be achieved on stage.

Quotations are well chosen and analysed. Sentence and paragraph construction are mostly well controlled, with a few lapses.

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